In July of 1986, Jim VanderPloeg bought an existing “service station” and ‘Heritage 76’ on the corner of Michigan and Prospect (on the border of Heritage Hill Historical District) was born. Heritage 76 was a three-bay, full service, neighborhood gas station (~1000 sq. ft.) and 24 hr towing.
For those Millenials, Gen-X, Gen-Y, Gen-Z’ers and those not living in Oregon or New Jersey, ‘full-service’ meant we pumped your gas, cleaned your windshield, checked oil levels and tire pressure for you.
In 1991, Tom Toft joined Jim as business partner, the focus shifted to the maintenance and repair side of the auto industry and our name changed to Heritage Service Centre. Why ‘Centre’ not ‘Center’? At the time, we were associated with both ‘Heritage Hill’ and ‘City Centre’ (currently home to the GRPD). While City Centre was short-lived, we are not and the euro spelling remained with us.
By the mid-90’s the opportunity to move to a larger facility (4000 sq. ft.) and we took advantage of it. We recently completed the purchase of our entire building at 1044 Scribner Ave. NW (just north of downtown Grand Rapids) which provides us with an additional 6,000 sq. ft. for future growth.
Although we’ve expanded and moved, ‘Service’ is still our middle name and we have remained true to our original ideals:
- If you drive it, we’ll repair it – domestic or import
- We use high quality parts installed by skilled, certified technicians
- We perform our services for a fair price
- We stand behind our work for 12 months / 12,000 miles (click here to learn more about the Peace of Mind Warranty information)
- We still check fluids and fill your tires w/ air for FREE.
Our mechanics hear noises other mechanics don’t!
Jim VanderPloeg – Owner
Jim has been with Heritage since 1986. Likes hunting and fishing.
Mike – Tech
Mike loves coming to Heritage because every day is something new. As long as you break it, we’ll fix it.
Anton – Tech
We like Anton, he keeps showing up and we keep putting him to work.